The Mistryl Shadow Guard
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Galaxy at War See also: GaW Military Units The Mistryl Shadow Guard, the favored daughters of Emberlene, are one of the galaxy's most lethal (But least encountered) special-missions forces. The Mistryl has existed on Emberlene for centuries, although not always under that name. Their planet's matriartical culture encouraged secret societies and guilds, with spies and assassins evening out the balance of power between factions. The rulers of Emberlene, known as the Eleven Elders of the People, gave their blessings to seven such squads, with top members of each unit appointed to the elite Silent Hand. The Elders' Silent Hand unit evolved into The Mistryl Shadow Guard. With the outbreak of the Clone Wars, the Eleven Elders see an opportunity to expand Emberlene's fortune at the expense of its neighbors. Emberlene signs as a member of The Confederacy of Independent Systems, using that pretense to invade peaceful Republic worlds throughout the sector. For three years, Emberlene ravages local space, first sending in its Shadow Guard to kill a planet's politicians and generals, then following up with a military wave that flattens the disorientated defenders. News of this aggression does not spread to the greater galaxy, and the Republic- preoccupied with its own survival- cannot spare any Jedi to aid the victims. Faced with surrender or annihilation, the sector's planets pool their resources and hire a mercenary army led by rogue factions of The Sun Guards of Thyrsus. The counterattack pushes Emberlene's forces back to their homeworld, where withering orbital shelling ignites firestorms that leave the planet an ash-blackened shell. Their great campaign had failed, but the Eleven Elders clung to power by rewriting history. They claimed that the newly crowned Emperor Palpatine had ordered the devastation of Emberlene to punish the world for its glorious successes, and the Elders use the surviving members of the Shadow Guard to eliminate dissidents. By the time of the Battle of Yavin, not even the Mistryl knows the true story behind Emberlene's devastation. To sustain the impoverished planet and its people, the Eleven Elders hire out the Mistryl as mercenaries, where its skills earn high commissions. The Eleven maintain their public façade by loudly refusing to do business with the Empire, but quietly accept Imperial jobs on the side. The Shadow Guard are instrumental in both protecting a piece of the second Death Star's Superlaser during Operation Hammertong and in assassinating countless Imperial governors and moffs. A few members of The Mistryl Shadow Guard who learn the truth of Emberlene's aggression break from the order. The most prominent of these, Loruna Scathe, founds The Azure Cabal and competes for Mistryl's mercenary jobs. The Eleven Elders maintain control of the Shadow Guard throughout the rule of The New Republic, allowing their agents maximum freedom to chasing the highest-paying contracts. Methods The Mistryl is utterly loyal to the Eleven Elders but has little contact with them. To bring a flow of credits back to Emberlene's people, the Mistryl operates almost permanently in the field. Although it does not advertise its skills, without lucrative jobs the Shadow Guard would serve no purpose. Its members have quickly built up a reputation among the elite players of The Fringe as the galaxy's best assassins, thieves, and bodyguards. However, the Mistryl remains elusive and difficult to contact, a practical necessity to avoid detection by Imperial agents and embittered enemies of Emberlene. This stealthy approach doesn't mean that the Mistryl's members stay out of sight- only that they go unnoticed. Any female smuggler, freighter pilot, bounty hunter, bodyguard, or vagabond could be a Mistryl Shadow Guard. Most spacers never know the difference. At close range, the Mistryl's agents are deadly, preferring to snap necks quietl instead of blasting away like overexcited Mandalorians. Members of the Shadow Guard are trained in the use of Vibroblades and Hold-Out Blaster Pistols, as well as more exotic weapons including Shock Whips, Hand Claws, and Zenji Needles (Balanced throwing spikes often disguised as hair decorations). Among the field assets available to the Mistryl is a camouflage prematch database that contains millions of profiles of prominent galactic citizens. Shadow Guard agents use these profiles to impersonate others when they need to pull off undercover missions or to disappear in a hurry. The Mistryl's ranks are few in number. Agents typically work solo or in very small groups, making them less likely to be detected by enemies and allowing them to cover a broader footprint when canvassing for contracts. Missions As mercenaries, The Mistryl Shadow Guard works for its clients but is ultimately answerable to the Eleven Elders of the People. It is given an unprecedented level of freedom in how to fulfill that dual role. A member of the Shadow Guard might work for a year or more with no input from the rulers of Emberlene. She can accept mercenary jobs at her discretion, as long as she funnels the credits back to Emberlene. If a job is sufficiently lucrative, a member of the Mistryl might enter into an open-ended contract with a single employer. These jobs vary on a case-by-case basis, but most people who willingly hire the Mistryl long-term do so to ensure their own safety. Bodyguard assignments are common, although the agents' skill at stealth also makes them excellent choices for espionage, assassination, extraction, or theft. When the Eleven Elders call, the Mistryl comes running. Naturally, the Elders pull in the Shadow Guard to deal with threats to Emberlene, but such calls are rare. More often, the Elders dispense high-level assignments received from private clients, for whom the Elders act as brokers. Because the Elders are driven by greed and power, they do business with the galaxy's worst scum. In such cases, they are careful to hide the identity of the client from the Mistryl agents assigned to the task. If a Mistryl Shadow Guard outlives her usefulness or shows sufficient disloyalty to Emberlene- particularly if she learns the extent of the Eleven Elders' manipulations- she is branded by the Elders as a liability. Such agents can be freely hunted by the Mistryl, and the targets usually are hounded until pardoned or dead. Loruna Scathe is one such woman who has thrived since breaking ties with the Mistryl. Her Azure Cabal is intended to stand as a pure alternative to the Shadow Guard, which she feels has been tainted with the blood of innocents. The two factions have occasionally engaged in life-for-life grudge matches. Rank Structure The Eleven Elders of the People are the commanders-in-chief of The Mistryl Shadow Guard, but in the field, the Mistryl is left to its own devices. When necessary, the Mistryl organizes into small strike units, each led by a Shadow Guard who carries the temporary designation Team Prime. Potential Team Prime candidates are drawn from a list, kept by the Eleven Elders, of agents who have extensive field experience and a history of successful missions. Many units can be called together for large jobs, commanded by the most senior Team Prime or (In extreme cases) by the Elders themselves. Only females can join the Mistryl. The vast majority are Emberlene natives by birth or are the daughters of former Shadow Guard members. Although privileged outsiders have been known to join its ranks, such cases are vanishingly rare. A new Mistryl recruit is likely to be sent on small-scale assignments for the Eleven Elders in Emberlene's local sector before receiving permission to work in the mercenary field. At that point, she often pairs up with a more experienced agent in an apprenticeship that resembles a Master-Padawan relationship. Life in the Mistryl is difficult. Mercenary work at that elite level carries a high risk of death or dismemberment, and nearly every credit of the agents' fees is sent back home. The Shadow Guard is driven by ideology and loyalty, which makes the risk to the Eleven Elders even greater should the Mistryl ever discover the extent of the Elders' corruption. Mistryl Shadow Guard Nonheroic Units See also: Nonheroic Units